OVERTIME CLAIMS

California law requires employees to get paid time and a half for all hours worked in excess of eight (8) in one day or 40 hours in one week, unless they are considered “exempt” from the overtime requirements. Many employers treat their employees as “exempt” and pay them a fixed salary in order to get around paying that employee overtime wages. However, in order to be “exempt” from the requirements to pay overtime, an employee must be employed in an administrative, managerial, or professional function and spend more than 50% of his or her work time performing “exempt” duties (duties that are reserved for managers versus hourly employees such as exercising independent discretion as to how the company is run, hiring/firing, or supervising other employees.)

Because the state of California follows the Federal law when it comes to unpaid overtime, a three-year statute of limitations applies to back pay recovery. The Federal overtime provisions can be found in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In simple terms, this means when your claim is filed, only wages for the three years prior to the filing of your claim can be recovered.

Please note: Just because an employee holds the title of manager or is paid a salary, does not mean they are exempt from overtime! Please contact Mr. Tetalman for a confidential free review of your situation to determine if you are being paid improperly.